Red Sox unveil statue of Boxford's own Carl Yastrzemski

It was a different kind of a day for Boxford resident Carl Yastrzemski. Not much gardening happening on this particular Sunday.

Joshua Boyd/Wicked Local Boxford

It was a different kind of a day for Boxford resident Carl Yastrzemski. Not much gardening happening on this particular Sunday.

"We have a little farm and we have horses, and I plant a big garden, which I like to do every year," said Yastrzemski, about his Boxford residence. "We don’t grow potatoes, though. I had enough potatoes growing up. A lot of tomatoes."

Yastrzemski, who grew up on a potato farm on Long Island, set his green thumb aside for the day to go to his old workplace, Fenway Park on Yawkey Way in Boston, for a very special occasion.

A statue of "Yaz" was being unveiled outside of Fenway, memorializing his salute to the Boston Red Sox fans at his last at-bat of his 23-year Sox career.

"I’m deeply honored to stand before you today seeing this statue, in front of the place that I called home for 23 years," said Yastrzemski.

He joked afterwards about the trophy, "I look pretty young. It doesn’t have gray hair."

A Baseball Hall of Fame member with his Number 8 retired at Fenway Park, Yastrzemski defined a generation for the Red Sox.

He suited up for the first time on April 11, 1961 and gave the salute now cast in bronze by Toby Mendez on Oct. 2, 1983. He was the MVP and Triple Crown winner in 1967, the year of the Red Sox’ "Impossible Dream." He was instrumental to the Red Sox 1975 AL pennant win.

The ceremony's emcee, Dick Flavin, a PA announcer at Fenway Park, called Yaz "the greatest living Red Sox player."

He succeeded Ted Williams in left field and retired after playing with Wade Boggs and Bob Stanley.

"I was able to have a mentor like Johnny Pesky to work with me, and he said that if you're going to be around the game, you need to watch someone that knows how to play the game,’" said Jim Rice, Yastrzemski’s teammate for 10 seasons. "And that man was Carl Yastrzemski. I watched him day in and day out, how he prepared himself. He was always the first one to the ballpark, the last one to leave."

Another longtime teammate of Yaz’ was Dwight Evans, who joined him in the outfield over 12 years, first joining the Red Sox at the age of 20 when Yaz was already a 10-year veteran.

"He told me ‘You need to play the outfield like a shortstop,’" said Evans. "Think about that – so many of us are shortstops when we’re younger in little league and high school. You’re more ready to go in, go back, side to side, you’re in a ready position. He did and he taught me to do that."

Evans is counted among Yaz’ closest friends and a valued fishing buddy from their time in Florida.

"We’d go out on the ocean and catch anything we can," Yaz said.

Back on Yawkey Way, Evans remembers those times after a game when the players would simply just talk baseball.

"We’d sit in that clubhouse, the media would leave, and we’d talk about the game, how we could be better, how we could win more games," he said. "You really have no idea how meaningful that was for me, a young player, to hear the thoughts of a man and a ballplayer I truly respected."

He was an inspiration to fans everywhere as well, including a young insurance salesman from Hyde Park later to become Boston’s longest-serving mayor, Thomas Menino.

"He was more than a ballplayer, he was good for the neighborhood, good for the people, he was a role model, Carl was, in a very quiet way," said Menino, who read a proclamation designating Sept. 22, 2013 as Carl Yastrzemski Day in the City of Boston.

"He was the most feared slugger in baseball during his time," Menino added.

It was overall a very happy day for Yastrzemski, but there were a few people on his mind, namely his father Carl Sr., who died in 2005 at age 89, and his son Michael who died in 2004 from complications following a hip surgery.

"My father was a very quiet man that’s where I probably get it from," Yastrzemski said. "He was very hard-working, and instilled that in me when I was a young boy. He was a tough, good man.

"I wish [Michael] could have been here. He was my biggest fan," he said, during the ceremony.

"It’s hard for a parent to outlive his son or daughter. We were close," Yaz said.

The statue that will greet fans near Gate B could have just as easily memorialized a moment in 1984 as it does 1983.

"One of the things I was thinking about was I really wasn’t going to retire then, I was going to play one more year," he said. "I was talking to [former general manager] Hayward Sullivan and [former manager] Ralph Houk after the All-Star Break and said I’m going to play one more year.

"So what was going through my mind is ‘Did I make the right decision to retire or should I have played one more year? It’s tough to leave the game when you loved it so much," he said.

He continues to love it and is already excited about the upcoming playoff run for the AL East champion Red Sox.

"They’re playing as a great, great unit. Different guys are doing something every day. That’s what you need to win the division," he said. "I can’t wait for the playoffs."